An autonomous vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating with little or no user input. It does so by using sensing devices such as radar, lidar, image sensors, and the like. Autonomous vehicles further use information from global positioning systems (GPS) technology, navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, and/or drive-by-wire systems to navigate the vehicle.
While recent years have seen significant advancements in autonomous vehicles, such vehicles might still be improved in a number of respects. For example, in some instances, a traffic control person will control the flow of traffic at an intersection or other location using hand-held signs (e.g., “stop” or “slow” signs) in conjunction with various hand gestures. It would be desirable for autonomous vehicles to correctly detect and interpret such traffic control personnel and signage.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for detecting the presence of traffic control personnel and related traffic control signs in autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.